Effect of hydrophobic interactions on volume and thermal expansivity as derived from micelle formation

Volumetric parameters have long been used to elucidate the phenomena governing the stability of protein structures, ligand binding, or transitions in macromolecular or colloidal systems. In spite of much success, many problems remain controversial. For example, hydrophobic groups have been discussed to condense adjacent water to a volume lower than that of bulk water, causing a negative contribution to the volume change of unfolding. However, expansivity data were interpreted in terms of a structure-making effect that expands the water interacting with the solute. We have studied volume and expansivity effects of transfer of alkyl chains into micelles by pressure perturbation calorimetry and isothermal titration calorimetry. For a series of alkyl maltosides and glucosides, the methylene group contribution to expansivity was obtained as 5 uL/(mol K) in a micelle (mimicking bulk hydrocarbon) but 27 uL/(mol K) in water (20 °C). The latter value is virtually independent of temperature and similar to that obtained from hydrophobic amino acids. Methylene contributions of micellization are about -60 J/(mol K) to heat capacity and 2.7 mL/mol to volume. Our data oppose the widely accepted assumption that water-exposed hydrophobic groups yield a negative contribution to expansivity at low temperature that would imply a structure-making, water-expanding effect.